Baseball Battles Eastern Kentucky on Tuesday

Preston Troutman and the Mountaineers take on Eastern Kentucky on Tuesday afternoon at Turkey Hughes Field in Richmond, Ky. Photo by Rob Moore and courtesy of Appalachian Sports Information

April 2, 2013. Sandwiched in between a pair of pivotal Southern Conference home series, Appalachian State University baseball travels north on Tuesday for a non-conference tilt at defending Ohio Valley Conference champion Eastern Kentucky. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. at Turkey Hughes Field in Richmond, Ky.

Behind Sam Agnew-Wieland’s five-hit shutout on Saturday and Noah Holmes’ walkoff double on Sunday, Appalachian State (14-9, 6-5 SoCon) rallied to take 2-of-3 SoCon games from Wofford this past weekend at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium. The series victory set the stage for next weekend’s highly anticipated SoCon set versus first-place Georgia Southern (18-9, 9-3 SoCon) at Smith Stadium.

Before the Mountaineers can set their sights on the front-running Eagles, however, they must focus on Tuesday’s mid-week tilt at Eastern Kentucky (5-18, 2-7 OVC). While Appalachian has won four of its last six games, EKU is in the midst of a seven-game losing streak. Additionally, the Colonels are just 1-6 at home this season while App State is 3-1 in non-conference road games, including wins at No. 8 NC State (6-3 on Feb. 15) and Georgia (8-5 on March 13).

Last season, Eastern Kentucky won 31 games and claimed a share of the OVC championship with a 19-7 record in league play.

Appalachian State will send left-handed junior Chad Farmer (1-0, 3.46 ERA) to the mound on Tuesday at EKU’s Turkey Hughes Field. Farmer made perhaps the best start of his career in his last trip to the bump at North Carolina A&T on March 19. The southpaw limited N.C. A&T to just two runs on six hits while striking out seven in seven innings of work to lead the Mountaineers to a 10-2 victory.